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Premier Vibraphone I need a new felt for the damper

De Sastre 17 July 2013

Hi everybody,

does anybody know which felt (Musser, Yamaha etc.?) fits and works on an old Premier vibraphone damper?
Which kind of felt I should use if I have to create my own replacement?

Thanks

Jürgen

Comments

Jenzz Wed, 07/17/2013 - 15:42

Hi .-)

I would recommend Nico's gel pad from Van der Plas. I have installed this on my old Adams and it works perfect... It's definetly worth the investment.

Jens

De Sastre Thu, 07/18/2013 - 14:49

Hi Jens,

thanks a lot! Actually I already asked them, but the Van der Plas gel pad does not fit on a Premier vibraphone. So they told me. It would have been a good solution.

Jürgen

paul jefferies Wed, 07/31/2013 - 06:39

I have damper felt in stock which is cut to order and costs about £15.
When it comes to identifying felt, it is not that simple. Some manufacturers use a synthetic/wool mix, others use low grade felt. Premier used a pure mix, of a specific hardness which I used to buy. However I was not happy with the damping.
Some of my customers do a lot of high end recording sessions (film scores, etc) and the problem they had was not damping, that is easy to achieve, but it is the vibrations of the note when the damper bar touches making a "zzz" noise. This is created because the fibres in the felt are not flexible enough. The solution was softer felt, the added benefit is more effective damping because of increased surface contact, and this is what I sell.

Premier rivet the felt in place at each end, this is unnecessary and causes problems, don't replace them just glue the felt in place. Another thing to check are the leaf springs which work harden and snap where they are fitted to the bar. If they are snapped, there are no replacements. You have a choice to make some replacements in spring steel (good luck), or get the system changed. Fingers crossed that they are still fine, but expect them to fail (sorry).

Paul Jefferies

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